The invention relates to the compact disc industry and, more particularly, to a device for holding the boxes for compact discs on a wall, or other flat surface.
One of the most ubiquitous medium for conveying information is the compact disc (hereinafter CD). Initially used primarily for distribution of music, compact discs are now used for distributing all types of information in many different formats. Not only are they used for music, but also for video recordings and, perhaps most importantly, computer data files.
Universally used for protection of the compact discs are xe2x80x9cjewel boxes.xe2x80x9d These plastic CD boxes are relatively flat and thin and are of a standard size. Due to the large number of compact discs in use, for a myriad of purposes, people require some type of holder to support these jewel boxes, and the compact discs in them, so they can be quickly found and used.
Niekel (U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,263) discloses a modular display rack for CD-boxes. A problem with this device is that it is a rack and is useful only when many CD-boxes are to be displayed. If only one CD-box needs to be hung, this device is not suitable. Moreover, the display rack is useful only for display, and is a hindrance when someone wants to actually use one of the displayed CDs. As shown, the CD-box 11 is held between T-shaped profiled guides 4 and 5. Each set of guides holds a plurality of CD boxes. If the CD in the middle is wanted, then the end CDs must also be removed. Besides, it is a big unit, which is not desirable if only one or two CD boxes need to be supported.
Another CD storage and display rack is shown by O""Donnell (U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,177). This too is designed for storing a collection of CD boxes, and is not designed for hanging only a single CD box. In order to release a particular CD box, the user must insert his finger into semicircular cavities 32 and 34 to pull the CD box up from the rack. For elderly people and also children, this may be difficult to accomplish.
Fitzsimmons (U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,967) discloses a plastic package for storing and selling CDs at retail, but it is not designed for holding the actual CD boxes on a wall. Yeung (U.S. Pat. No 5,542,531) is concerned with the specific structure for the CD box itself, and does not disclose any holder for the CD boxes.
Dardashti (U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,720) provides a vertical rack for holding not only CD boxes, but also cassettes, tapes, game cartridges and similar devices. It can be free standing or wall mounted. It is designed, however, to hold many CD boxes, and is again not designed to hold just one or two CD boxes.
Therefore, there is a need for a simple holder that may be mounted on a wall for holding just a single CD box. No such device is known in the prior art. While racks and display units to hold dozens or hundreds of CD boxes are well known and utilized, there are no known holders for the situation where a person needs to mount just a single CD box on the wall for display or storage purposes.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a simple holder which can be mounted on the wall and which can be used for storing just a single CD box.
This and other objects are accomplished by a simple CD box holder, that comprises a substantially flat base plate. A shelf is formed at the bottom to vertically support the CD box. At the top a push panel in combination with a locking panel are rotatably mounted.
To utilize the Invention, the bottom edge of the CD box is inserted on the shelf and the top is pushed in until it is held securely in place by the locking panel. To remove the CD box, the locking panel is rotated up and the push panel pushes the CD box out from the holder.
Self adhesive strips or screws are used to attach the holder to the wall.